From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Provision and placement of the Bentley tyre pump and other tools.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 149\5\ scan0153 | |
| Date | 14th October 1933 | |
| W/S. x 993 To Cx.{Major Len W. Cox - Advertising Manager} from Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Lid.{A. J. Lidsey} Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Lid.{A. J. Lidsey}2/KT.14.10.33. BENTLEY TYRE PUMP. It has always been agreed that the only tools which should be carried under the bonnet are those which might be needed whilst the car is running on the road viz: jack and handle, wheel spanner and mallet. The tyre pump is perhaps the least likely tool of all we supply to be required on the road, and we emphatically object to the engine being cluttered up with such entirely unnecessary tackle. We do not know who was responsible for this, probably the coachbuilders. The pump was selected because it is extremely efficient and is far and away lighter than any other; admittedly it is not very costly, but at the same time it does not suffer on this account apart from looks. If we like to pay more for it, we have no doubt that it can be obtained with a nickel/or chromium plated barrel, we have not considered this necessary because it was not intended to be carried in a prominent place. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Lid.{A. J. Lidsey} | ||